Marie Rimmer blasts local government funding cuts

The Local Government Finance Settlement by the Local Government Association will see a cut of 26 per cent in St Helens Council's Revenue Support Grant scheduled for 2017/18, amounting to £7.41m.

In Knowsley, a 20 per cent cut amounting to £8.21m is planned and former Chancellor George Osborne committed central government to abolishing the Revenue Support Grant by 2020, a major source of council income and in last November’s Autumn Statement successor Philip Hammond reaffirmed the plans.

As the cuts were discussed in Parliament, Ms Rimmer criticised the funding changes and branded the measure to allow local authorities to raise council tax through the social care precept as a "short-term sticking plaster".

St Helens Council is set to increase council tax by 4.99 per cent for the year ahead, including the extra two per cent allowed to fund social care.

The St Helens South and Whiston MP said: “This Local Government Finance package is bad news for St Helens and Knowsley, as Tory cuts to local government funding puts key local services under even more pressure.

“Local government has already severely suffered as a result of seven years of brutal and devastating Tory cuts, and this latest cut is just part of the £20.6m that St Helens Council needs to find by 2020 to keep services running.”

The Labour MP added: “Although the government has finally acknowledged the crisis in social care changes to the council tax precept is a short-term sticking plaster for a crisis which needs a sustainable, long-term and strategic solution.”

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: “Our long-term funding settlement means St Helens Council will have more than £546 million to spend between now and 2020, allowing them to deliver the services that local people want.

“We’ve also announced an extra £900 million for social care in England, meaning councils will have a total of £7.6 billion to spend over four years.”